After the disgusting, dissatisfying loss in the Super Bowl, John Elway has quickly and decisively proved with the signings of The Big Three the past week that the Broncos are all in again for the 2014 season.

The best remaining, available free agent who would cost a pittance and serve an invaluable role for the Broncos is ... Mike Shanahan.

Calm down and read on.

Why not bring back the Mastermind for his fourth cycle in Denver? The previous three times Shanahan was teamed with Elway and the Broncos, they played in five Super Bowls — and won two championships.

The Broncos were able to repeat, and history can, too.

Unlike before, Shanahan shouldn't be the supreme commander, the general manager, the head coach, the offensive coordinator or even the quarterbacks coach.

But he could be an aide-de-camp for John Fox, an offensive consultant for Adam Gase and Peyton Manning, a running game guru and a confidant for Elway.

Shanahan? Really?

Why not?

In November 2010, when the Broncos were at the depths of despair, I recommended here that Pat Bowlen hire Elway to be executive VP of football operations. Many inside and outside the operation ridiculed the idea, claiming Elway was a gentleman golfer unqualified for the job.

Elway came back and produced another Broncos comeback to relevance.

Consider these factors for a Shanahan return:

The Broncos hired Alex Gibbs as an offensive line consultant last season. He had worked for the franchise twice previously and was assistant head coach for years (under Shanahan). Gibbs departed last week.

When veteran coach Fox was fired by the Carolina Panthers, he contemplated becoming a consigliere to Andy Reid in Philadelphia. Then, the Denver position was offered. Several other prominent ex-NFL head coaches have become team advisers.

Mike Shanahan (Getty Images file)

The 61-year-old Shanahan has spent 37 seasons as a coach, 29 years in pro football, six as a Broncos assistant and 14 as the head coach (1995-2008). He has three Super Bowls rings (the other as the San Francisco 49ers offensive coordinator) and coached in 10 conference championships (seven with the Broncos).

Sure, he has been fired three times as a head coach — by Oakland, Denver and Washington (on Dec. 30, 2013). Tom Landry and Paul Brown were fired. They're in the Hall of Fame. Shanahan soon will be a viable candidate.

Shanahan is out of work, and there are no head coaching jobs left. He's too young to retire, though.

Mike still lives in his Cherry Hills mansion and co-owns the restaurant bearing his name. Before Manning joined the Broncos, he met with Shanahan, and after he signed, he stayed in Shanahan's home for a few months while the coach was in D.C.

In 1984, Dan Reeves lured a 31-year-old Shanahan from Florida to tutor Elway, and the quarterback and the assistant became chess partners, golf buddies and tight friends for the next 15 years. The relationship strained after Elway retired in 1999.

Bowlen once said Shanahan could have a lifetime contract, but after consecutive mediocre seasons, their association soured, and Shanahan was dumped at the end of the 2008 season. Bowlen owed Shanahan $21 million. Mike saved Pat $14 million when he agreed a year later to coach Washington.

Washington owner Dan Snyder is obligated to pay Shanahan $7 million this year.

When Shanahan reappeared at the stadium last season for the Washington-Denver game, the Broncos gave him a scoreboard-screen salute, and the crowd gave him a warm welcome.

It's time for everybody to be reunited.

Shanahan certainly did have issues as an overlord micromanager in Denver and Washington, and his teams have struggled since 2005.

But he has experience and expertise, and a brilliant brain for football. Mike would help the Broncos — if his role is well-defined, and confined, by Bowlen, Elway and Fox.

Shanahan could work with Manning and Gase in film study and creative game-planning, give counsel to Elway and Fox and offer suggestions from upstairs during games and to skill-position players at practices.

Lest the thought be dismissed readily, Shanahan as coach and de facto GM surrounded Elway with enough free agents and draft choices (16 new starters, including Terrell Davis) to win Super Bowls XXXII and XXXIII.

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